Words are the essence of communication: They are the building blocks of any language. Learning the meaning of words is thus one of the most important aspects of language acquisition: Children must first learn words before they can combine them into complex utterances. Many theories have been developed to explain the impressive efficiency of young children in acquiring the vocabulary of their language, as well as the developmental patterns observed in the course of lexical acquisition. A major source of disagreement (...) among the different theories is whether children are equipped with special mechanisms and biases for word learning, or their general cognitive abilities are adequate for the task. We present a novel computational model of early word learning to shed light on the mechanisms that might be at work in this process. The model learns word meanings as probabilistic associations between words and semantic elements, using an incremental and probabilistic learning mechanism, and drawing only on general cognitive abilities. The results presented here demonstrate that much about word meanings can be learned from naturally occurring child-directed utterances (paired with meaning representations), without using any special biases or constraints, and without any explicit developmental changes in the underlying learning mechanism. Furthermore, our model provides explanations for the occasionally contradictory child experimental data, and offers predictions for the behavior of young word learners in novel situations. (shrink)

The fast growing rates of plagiarism among students in higher education has become a serious concern for academics around the world. Collecting data through semi-structured interview, this qualitative study is an attempt to investigate a group of EFL undergraduate students’ viewpoints on plagiarism, the extent to which they are informed about it and the reasons triggering them to plagiarize. Responses revealed shallow understanding of plagiarism in its various forms. The findings indicated a range of contributing factors including: instructors’ ignorance towards (...) plagiarism, limited writing and research skills, peer pressure, pressure to submit high-quality assignments and ease of plagiarizing. The results highlighted the need for practical policies and cohesive framework to raise students’ awareness at initial stages in order to minimize the prevalence of plagiarism at later points. Developing rich writing and referencing skills should be considered seriously by course instructors and the common leniency towards undergraduate students’ instances of plagiarism must be replaced by more serious attitude that encourages innovative and genuine research practice. The implications of findings can help academics to take the required steps in decreasing cases of plagiarism among students. (shrink)

Publication date: 16 April 2018 Source: Author: Parto Fazli, Ebrahim Abbasi The objective of the study is to test experimentally the Kuznets curve of energy intensity in selected developing countries with the focus of D-8 countries during 1990-2014. According to the results, and by using the static and dynamic estimators and the Panel- ARDL model, the Kuznets curve was accepted for energy intensity and the per capita income threshold was estimated $3931.25. The urbanization rate and the degree of industrialization (...) have a positive and significant effect on the GDP of consuming energy of D-8 countries in the long term. The most important policy recommendations were discussed for policy-makers and researchers. (shrink)

This paper aims to explore the relationship between architecture and social movements in general and the indeterminate architecture of ruin and an event of squatter protest in particular. As a speculative project it reflects upon an architectural setting in which a protest took place in 2011 at the University of Sydney in Australia. Examining the architecture of this specific event and the ways architecture allows such turbulent moments to emerge are the focus of this paper. In this examination I combine (...) the Foucauldian notion of dispositif with the emerging notion of studentification in order to understand the role of architecture as a significant element in the rise of urban uprisings. (shrink)

This study examines the existence, intensity and impacts of intolerance for Press criticism in Pakistani society. It’s generally believed that intolerance for Press criticism leads to professional and psychological complexes for the Press to play its role as a voice for unvoiced and to hold those in power accountable because the Press’s role as the Watchdog compulsively needs high capacities of tolerance in the society to understand the realities and habituate rationalism. As working journalists have to face the direct reaction (...) from masses regarding Press criticism so this paper explores journalist’s perceptions about the presence of intolerance in the societal frame of Pakistan regarding Press’s criticism using survey technique under Likert Scale. The study also incorporates the impacts of intolerance on professionalism in media that induce threats to journalists and compel them to exercise self-censorship which ultimately results in content biases, depriving the citizens of fundamental right of expression. The conclusion provides guidelines for policy making on the subject of Press freedom and social coherence. Also, this study enhances understandings regarding the social sphere of the country and gauges the level of intolerance for media discourses. (shrink)

Purpose: Organ donation and transplantation are practices that are supported by all of the world's major religions, including Sikhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism. Recent developments in the fields of organ donation and organ transplantation have sparked a renewed sense of optimism for the treatment of critical illnesses. The jurists permitted organ transplants on the basis of certain principles, including ownership and categories of property. On the other hand, moralists strive to deny the ownership of human organs by using principles such (...) as faith and Almighty Allah’s absolute authority. Then main objective of this research paper is on one hand to identify and emphasize arguments for and against organ donation and transplantation in the framework of scared provisions of Islam and its corresponding legal requirements and on the other hand to understand and teach the people that not only Islam allows organ donation but also encourage its followers to assist one another and make an effort to promote organ donations in society. Methodology: The doctrinal methodology. Explanatory and analytical research approaches are used in this work. It is worth mentioning that this research study is entirely based on library sources. Most of the sources are reputable and trustworthy textbooks, scholarly published and unpublished journal articles, law reports, and online websites related to the research area. Findings: According to the arguments as well as clear and explicit rulings, principles and authentic evidence from the Holy Quran, it is clear that the donation and transplantation of human body organs is permissible. The Holy religion of Islam persuades its followers to participate in charity, assist people, and donate organs to save the lives of those patients who are waiting for organ transplant. Recommendations: Theoretically, this work is very useful in contributing to the existing body of literature of knowledge. Practically, this work identifies the circumstances in which Muslim jurists not only allow but encourage its followers to assist one another and make an effort to promote organ donations in society in order to save people’s life. It is recommended that both the donor and the recipient of an organ must belong to the same nationality or legal jurisdiction in order to prevent the growth of an international organ trade, which would be far more difficult to regulate. Additionally, in order to protect the health of both the recipients and the donors, it is imperative that transplants from unknown sources be prohibited. (shrink)

How does law effect well-being? Can school rules influence the feel-good factor among children? If a self-perception of being ‘good’ improves well-being, people would prefer to be good—even children. But traditional school rules are often contrary to the principles of well-being, and create ‘good criminals’. Starting from the seemingly absurd truth—‘crime is caused by the law’— the paper proposes that children should learn to view law critically and creatively. Then, through a novel application of Occupational Therapy , and using ‘law’ (...) to focus social agency, a case study develops ‘The law of school dress’ as a public good. The result reflects Jeremy Bentham’s Principle of Utility. Philosophy of OT reminds us that the ultimate purpose of education is not just to learn: it is to improve well-being through learning as meaningful ‘occupation’. And ‘law’ has a part to play. (shrink)

Qur’an states about ‘Adam’s Istifā’ or selection of Adam over all the people of the world, along with Noah, Āl-e-Imrān and Āl-e-Ibrāhim. The commentators have interpreted the ‘Istifā’ as ‘God’s selection’. If Adam is the first human to step into the world, what does God mean from ‘his selection over all the people of the world’? The followers of the evolutionary reading of the text of the Qur’an use this verse and determine that ‘Adam’ is the chosen person amongst human (...) beings in his time, but some commentators have criticised this to accept the other verses that say ‘Adam is the father of all human beings’, and they believe that Adam was created without parents. This study reviewed the collection of verses of human creation, based on three principles: the consistency of the Qur’an, near synonymy and the Qur’anic truth. The conclusions are: The Qur’anic concept of the ‘Adam’s Istifā’ leads to his creation without the affiliation of the previous generations. Such interpretation is confirmed by the system of Qur’anic verses. Based on Qur’anic concepts of the Bashar, Insān and Rūh, Adam is an advanced Bashar which is named Insān, who is gifted the Rūh, and modern humans are all from his generation. (shrink)

Background Respectful care during labour and childbirth, which has recently received a great deal of attention around the world, is vital for providing high-quality maternity care. However, this area has been underexplored in developing countries including Iran. Research aim This study aimed to assess postpartum women’s views regarding disrespect and abuse during labour and childbirth in Iran. Methods A qualitative study that involved a purposive sample of 21 postpartum women was conducted in Tehran, Iran, between 2019 and 2020. Following the (...) semi-structured individual interviews, a conventional content analysis was performed. Ethical considerations This research approved by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran, with the ethical approval number 1396.810. Following explanation of the study's objectives, eligible women consented to participate in the study. The confidentiality of the participants' information and the anonymity of the analysis were maintained at all stage of the study. All data was stored on the password protected file in the researcher computer The findings were only disseminated in summary form, with no identifying of individual participants. Results Analysis of the data resulted in two main themes: ‘inappropriate interaction’ and ‘inadequate quality care’. The ‘inappropriate interaction’ theme includes ‘lack of empathy’ and ‘verbal abuse’. The second theme includes five sub-themes ‘lack of participation in decision-making’, ‘lack of privacy’, ‘ignorance of women’s pain and medical needs’, ‘rushed labour and painful procedures’, and “unsatisfying facilities’. Conclusion Providing supportive care, respectful communication, adequate participation in decision-making, maintaining privacy, attending to women’s labour pain and medical needs, and improving the quality of the physical birth environment are all examples of what labouring women consider to be respectful maternity care. To minimise disrespect and maltreatment of women during childbirth, an all-inclusive strategy engaging women, communities, healthcare professionals, managers, and educators is required. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

This commentary focuses on how third parties impact the course of acts of revenge based on their world views, such as belief in a just world. Assuming this belief to be true, the following questions could be asked: (a) What are the consequences of a third party's worldview in terms of secondary victimization? (b) Are bystanders actually aware of these consequences? (c) If so, then why do they let it happens?

Our commentary is focused on the idea that takes on its full significance whenever its relativistic nature, in the short- and long terms, is taken into account. Given the transformations brought about by application of a general model of freedom based on ecological-economic factors clearly seems to be rather untimely. We examine this idea through egocentric and ethnocentric views of the social and environmental analyses of.

We have discussed some of the activities in the field of medical ethics that have been carried out in our country within recent years.

BackgroundNurses provide the majority of health-care services and face numerous health challenges during an epidemic. During the COVID-19 epidemic, nurses are subjected to physical, mental, and social disorders that impair their quality of life and hardiness. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the situation of nurses. The current study aimed to compare the compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and hardiness among nurses before and during the COVID-19 outbreak.Materials and MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 508 clinical nurses from one public hospital (...) in southern Iran. The subjects were recruited using census sampling methods in 2019–2020. Sampling was performed before and during the COVID-19 with a 1-year interval. Although, the study setting was the same before and during the COVID-19, questionnaires were completed by different nurses before and during the COVID-19. Demographic questionnaire, professional quality of life questionnaire and Occupational Hardiness Questionnaire were used to collect data.ResultsThe scores of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and hardiness did not differ significantly during the COVID-19 compared with before the COVID-19. Before COVID-19, hardiness and work experience predicted 11% of the variance of compassion satisfaction, whereas during COVID-19, hardiness and gender predicted 26% of the variance of compassion satisfaction. Before COVID-19, hardiness and work experience predicted 3% of the variance of compassion fatigue, whereas during COVID-19, hardiness, type of employment and gender predicted 6% of the variance of compassion fatigue.ConclusionThe current study found that compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and hardiness did not change during the COVID-19 outbreak compared with before the COVID-19 outbreak. However, during the COVID-19, the hardiness was a significant predictor of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. The study results showed that it was possible to increase the compassion satisfaction and reduce the compassion fatigue by strengthening the hardiness of nurses. However, these results need to be considered in future studies, especially in crises such as COVID-19 disease. (shrink)

Trapezoidal cubic fuzzy numbers (TzCFNs) are an extraordinary cubic fuzzy set on a real number set. TzCFNs are useful for dealing with well-known quantities in decision data and decision making problems themselves. This paper is about multi-attribute group decision making problems in which the attribute values are stated with TzCFNs, which are solved by developing a new decision method based on power average operators of TzCFNs. The new operation laws for TzCFNs are given. Hereby, the power average operator of real (...) numbers is extended to four kinds of power average operators of TzCFNs, involving the power average operator of TzCFNs, the weighted power average operator of TzCFNs, the power ordered weighted average operator of TzCFNs, and the power hybrid average operator of TzCFNs. In the proposed group decision method, the individual overall evaluation values of alternatives are generated by using the power average operator of TzCFNs. Applying the hybrid average operator of TzCFNs, the specific general evaluation standards of alternatives are then combined into the collective ones, which are used to rank the alternatives. The example analysis shows the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method. (shrink)

Open Shop Scheduling Problem is one of the most important scheduling problems in the field of engineering and industry. This kind of problem includes m machines and n jobs, each job contains a certain number of operations, and each operation has a predetermined processing time on its corresponding machine. The order of processing of these operations affects the completion times of all jobs. Therefore, the purpose of OSSP is to achieve a proper order of processing of jobs using specified machines, (...) so that the completion time of all jobs is minimized. In this paper, the strengths and limitations of three methods are evaluated by comparing the results of solving the OSSP in large-scale and small-scale benchmarks. In this case, the minimized completion time and total tardiness are considered the objective functions of the adapted methods. To solve small-scale problems, we adapt a mathematical model called Multiobjective Mixed Linear Programming. To solve large-scale problems, two metaheuristic algorithms including Multiobjective Parallel Genetic Algorithm and Multiobjective Parallel Simulated Annealing are adapted. In experimental results, we randomly generated small-scale problems to compare MOMILP with the Genetic Algorithm and Simulate Annealing. To compare MOPSA and MOPGA with the state of the art and show their strengths and limitations, we use a standard large-scale benchmark. The simulation results of the proposed algorithms show that although the MOPSA algorithm is faster, the MOPGA algorithm is more efficient in achieving optimal solutions for large-scale problems compared with other methods. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to define some new operation laws for the trapezoidal linguistic cubic fuzzy number and Hamming distance. Furthermore, we define and use the trapezoidal linguistic cubic fuzzy TOPSIS method to solve the multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method. The new ranking method for trapezoidal linguistic cubic fuzzy numbers (TrLCFNs) are used to rank the alternatives. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify and prove the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method.

The social facilitation of eating plays a significant role in influencing individuals’ eating decisions. However, how social eating cues are processed in health promotion messages is unclear. This study examined individuals’ food craving in response to social cues in images and emotional experiences, perceived threat, perceived efficacy, behavioral intentions, and motivational coactivation elicited by social eating cues in obesity prevention fear appeals. Results suggested that the presence of a group of people eating in an image facilitated food craving for the (...) presented foods. Moreover, fear appeals that presented obesity and its consequences with more social eating cues, versus individual eating cues, generated greater positive emotional responses, perceived threat severity, response and self-efficacy, and motivational coactivation indicating more attention and threat vigilance. However, these cues also generated fewer self-reported intentions to change unhealthy eating behaviors. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. (shrink)

The primary aim of this study was to determine the role of psychometric intelligence, emotional intelligence, and emo-sensory intelligence in university students’ academic achievement. To this end, 212 university students at different academic levels, composed of 154 females and 58 males, were asked to complete the Raven’s Progressive Matrices, the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory, and the Emo-Sensory Intelligence Scale. Data were then matched with students’ Grade Point Averages as a measure of their academic achievement. The results revealed that students’ level (...) of IQ and EQ could positively predict their academic achievement. In the case of their ESQ level, its auditory sub-component was found to be a positive predictor of academic success. Results were discussed, and possible implications and applications for increasing students’ chances for success were presented. (shrink)

Recent advances in life-sustaining treatments and technologies, have given rise to newly-emerged, critical and sometimes, controversial questions regarding different aspects of end-of-life decision-making and care. Since religious values are among the most influential factors in these decisions, the present study aimed to examine the Islamic scholars' views on end-of-life care. A structured interview based on six main questions on ethical decision-making in end-of-life care was conducted with eight Shiite experts in Islamic studies, and was analyzed through deductive content analysis. Analysis (...) revealed certain points in Islamic views on the definition of death and the persons making decisions about end-of-life care. According to the participants, in addition to conventional criteria such as absence of heartbeat and respiration, the irreversible cessation of human voluntary acts are considered to be the criteria in establishing death. The participants also recognized physicians as the main authorities in verifying signs of death. Furthermore, it was emphasized that life preservation and continuation of care must be sensible, and the patient can request not to have death-prolonging procedures started or continued. In the view of participants, patient's autonomy cannot be the sole basis for all measures, but Islamic ethical and jurisprudential principles should be relied upon to make correct and sensible decisions whether to continue or stop terminal patients' care. Final decisions should be made by a team of experts, and physicians must be at the center of such a team. Finally, we suggest that a guideline in keeping with Islamic norms on human life and death, purpose of life, God's will, boundaries of man's authority, and the physician's ethical duties and obligations should be developed. (shrink)

Evapotranspiration represents the water requirement of plants during their growing season, and its accurate measurement at the farm is essential for agricultural water planners and managers. Field measurements of evapotranspiration have always been associated with many difficulties that have led researchers to seek a way to remotely measure this component in horticultural and agricultural areas. This study aims to investigate an indirect approach for daily rice crop evapotranspiration measurement by machine learning techniques and the least available climatic variables. For this (...) purpose, daily meteorological variables were obtained from three ground meteorological stations in rice cultivation regions of northern Iran during 2003–2016. The ETc rates were calculated by seven meteorological variables, the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith equation, and the regional calibrated rice crop coefficient and considered as the reference data. The MLs, including Multilayer Perceptron, Radial Basis Function, Generalized Regression Neural Network, and Group Method of Data Handling, were utilized for ETc modeling. Different input combinations were applied, based on the use of minimum effective variables as input. Results showed that the models showed the most accurate performances in the input combination of four climatic variables: sunshine duration, maximum temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Investigating the accuracy of models in rice growth phases showed that the least estimation error belonged to the initial growing stage, which increased during the mid-season and late-season growing stages. A comparison of the models showed that the GMDH model performed better against the other competitors. For this model, both the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient and R2 were greater than 0.98, and the Root Mean Square Error ranged between 0.214 and 0.234 mm per day in all stations. The current approach showed promising results in rice evapotranspiration modeling by only four common meteorological variables and can be reliably applied for indirect measurement of this variable over the rice farms. The studied approach will have research value for rice and other crops in similar/different climatic conditions. (shrink)

This eleventh volume of Collected Papers includes 90 papers comprising 988 pages on Physics, Artificial Intelligence, Health Issues, Decision Making, Economics, Statistics, written between 2001-2022 by the author alone or in collaboration with the following 84 co-authors (alphabetically ordered) from 19 countries: Abhijit Saha, Abu Sufian, Jack Allen, Shahbaz Ali, Ali Safaa Sadiq, Aliya Fahmi, Atiqa Fakhar, Atiqa Firdous, Sukanto Bhattacharya, Robert N. Boyd, Victor Chang, Victor Christianto, V. Christy, Dao The Son, Debjit Dutta, Azeddine Elhassouny, Fazal Ghani, Fazli (...) Amin, Anirudha Ghosha, Nasruddin Hassan, Hoang Viet Long, Jhulaneswar Baidya, Jin Kim, Jun Ye, Darjan Karabašević, Vasilios N. Katsikis, Ieva Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė, F. Kaymarm, Nour Eldeen M. Khalifa, Madad Khan, Qaisar Khan, M. Khoshnevisan, Kifayat Ullah,, Volodymyr Krasnoholovets, Mukesh Kumar, Le Hoang Son, Luong Thi Hong Lan, Tahir Mahmood, Mahmoud Ismail, Mohamed Abdel-Basset, Siti Nurul Fitriah Mohamad, Mohamed Loey, Mai Mohamed, K. Mohana, Kalyan Mondal, Muhammad Gulfam, Muhammad Khalid Mahmood, Muhammad Jamil, Muhammad Yaqub Khan, Muhammad Riaz, Nguyen Dinh Hoa, Cu Nguyen Giap, Nguyen Tho Thong, Peide Liu, Pham Huy Thong, Gabrijela Popović‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬, Surapati Pramanik, Dmitri Rabounski, Roslan Hasni, Rumi Roy, Tapan Kumar Roy, Said Broumi, Saleem Abdullah, Muzafer Saračević, Ganeshsree Selvachandran, Shariful Alam, Shyamal Dalapati, Housila P. Singh, R. Singh, Rajesh Singh, Predrag S. Stanimirović, Kasan Susilo, Dragiša Stanujkić, Alexandra Şandru, Ovidiu Ilie Şandru, Zenonas Turskis, Yunita Umniyati, Alptekin Ulutaș, Maikel Yelandi Leyva Vázquez, Binyamin Yusoff, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Zhao Loon Wang.‬‬‬‬. (shrink)